Lily Evans and the Philosopher's Stone
by ravenclaw.sobolik
Summary: Time-travel fic! Next Generation. Lily's best friend, who is also named Lily, goes back to Harry's first year to help him keep the Philosopher's Stone from Quirrell. Should hopefully be funny and interesting.
1. A Strange Visit

**(A/N) A quick note, so you don't get confused. This is a Next Generation story. Lily Evans is NOT Harry's mom, Professor Percival Dumbledore is NOT Albus Dumbledore. Petunia Evans is NOT Aunt Petunia. The stories of who these characters are and why they have the names they do will be revealed through the story.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. **

**Chapter 1: A Strange Visit**

"Knock, knock, knock."

Mum and Dad opened the door. Standing on the doorstep was the most remarkable person they had ever seen. He was wearing a green and blue sweater vest over a bright red tee-shirt with polka-dot pants. His greying auburn hair was cut short, but his beard hung to his waist. Assuming his mismatched clothes were the product of simple colour-blindness, they tried not to stare.

"Hello," he said, smiling. "You must be Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Evans."

"Yes, I'm Ben and this is my wife Martha." Looking worried, he added, "How do you know our names? Have we met before?"

"I'm sorry if I distressed you. I promise you, everything will be explained," he said with his most reassuring smile. "My name is Professor Percival Dumbledore. I hope I'm not interrupting anything?"

Dad had given a violent start and become lost in memories when Professor Dumbledore introduced himself, but he recovered himself and responded, "No, of course not."

"Good. Now, if I could please speak with your daughter, Lily."

Mum started to protest; she wasn't going to let me talk to any stranger that just walked in and asked to, but my father cut her off. "Of course you can talk to Lily, but I need to talk to you alone, and then my wife and I need to speak to you." His voice had been as though he was speaking of something important, but after he said this, his voice became sterner and he added, "After you have talked to us, then you can ask to talk to her."

Professor Dumbledore gave him a penetrating look, and agreed to speak to him alone. Mum walked off to the kitchen to resume cleaning up dinner, and Dad led Professor Dumbledore to the sitting room. When they were in the sitting room, Professor Dumbledore started to ask, "Why do–" but Dad had already started speaking.

He was mumbling and sounded as though he was talking to himself, although he sometimes addressed Professor Dumbledore. "You're from a school… What was the name…? Pig…? Hog…? Well, it doesn't matter… All that matters is that it's a school for witches and wizards… So you're a wizard… Is my daughter a witch…? Is that why you're here…? To take her to your school…?"

Professor Dumbledore had not been expecting this response. "How do you know about Hogwarts? Or that I work there?"

Dad appeared to be in shock and was still unable to form a complete sentence. "Most famous headmaster Hogwarts ever had… Taught my sister… Dumbledore…"

Understanding spread over Professor Dumbledore's face. "You're sister was a muggle-born too. That's how you know about Hogwarts." He took my dad by the arm and led him to the couch, while continuing to talk. "And you're remembering my father, Albus Dumbledore. _He_ was the greatest headmaster Hogwarts ever had. I'm nowhere near as great as he was."

Dad was starting to calm down. "Did you know my sister? Lily Evans?"

Professor Dumbledore thought. "Tell me more about her. Her name sounds familiar, but I can't place her."

Still sounding hurried and nervous, dad began to speak, "I never met her, or my other sister Petunia. I was lost as a baby and grew up away from my family. I know she was a muggle-born; she married and had one son, but she and her husband were murdered in their early twenties when their son was one year old. I don't remember her husband's name, but I think her son was named Harry and I know he survived when they died, but I've never met him.

Professor Dumbledore had been listening with increasing surprise and disbelief. "That Lily Evans! She is better known by her married name: Lily Potter. Her son, Harry Potter, is even more famous!"

"My sister was famous?"

"Very. She gave her life to protect her son, thereby giving him the essential tool to defeat the most evil wizard of all time, against whom she had spent her life fighting!"

Dad was becoming overwhelmed again, so Professor Dumbledore left him to calm down and went to the kitchen to talk to Mum.

Mum's reaction was almost identical to Dad's. In the calm manner that was peculiar to him, Professor Dumbledore informed her that I was a witch and therefore belonged in the wizard world instead of the muggle (non-magic) world. He was going to take me to his school, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, so I could be trained in how to use my magic. It was a boarding school in Scotland, but I could come home for Christmas, Easter, and summer breaks. By the time he finished, Dad was calm, and came into the kitchen to calm Mum. As Dad entered the kitchen, Professor Dumbledore asked again to speak to me. Dad agreed and walked to the entry hall to call me downstairs.

I was upstairs in my room, reading my favourite book. I was so immersed in it, as I was whenever I was reading, that dad had to call me a couple times before his voice penetrated through to Ireland where I was watching a fifteen year old Artemis Fowl fight his ten year old self. When I heard my dad's call, I sat up, and placed a bookmark on the page I had been reading. I brushed my long red hair behind my ear as it fell over my reading glasses before standing up and walking to the landing at the top of the stairs.

"Yes, dad?" I asked my father, who was waiting below.

"There is a guest here who would like to speak to you. He's waiting in the sitting room for you."

I was surprised. I hadn't realized there was a guest. I nodded and dad walked back to the kitchen while I walked downstairs to the sitting room.

When I walked into the sitting room, I was stunned at Professor Dumbledore's appearance just as my parents had been. His clothes caught me first, but his bright, twinkling, electric blue eyes just added to the general oddness of his appearance. However, like my parents, I tried to be polite, so I sat down and waited for him to begin speaking.

"Hello. My name is Professor Dumbledore. I work for a school called Hogwarts, which you are invited to attend." He stopped as he saw I had a question.

"Do my parents know about this?"

"Yes, of course." He paused again, but I did not ask more questions, so he continued. "This school is not for normal children." I let my surprise and indignation show on my face, but he ignored it and continued. "It is for witches and wizards."

Although the surprise was starting to fade as the conversation continued, the indignation remained, and I burst out, "Are you calling me a witch?"

Against the provocation I purposefully provided, Professor Dumbledore remained calm. "Yes, you are a witch." He kept talking over my violent protests. "What you don't realize is that the term does not mean what you think it does. It is not degrading in any way. It simply means that you are human, female, and can use magic."

At the mention of magic, the indignation too disappeared, replaced by great interest. "I can use magic?" I asked. I tried to keep my voice neutral, but even to my ears there was an unmistakable tone of great interest and excitement.

Professor Dumbledore gave me a penetrating look, as he had looked at my father earlier. I felt as though he was x-raying me, but I knew he was looking straight into my soul. At last, he responded to my question. "Yes, you can use magic." He paused for a moment before adding, "But I believe you already knew that."

I hesitated as I searched for an answer, and he gave me the same penetrating look. Under that x-ray stare, I confessed he was right. "I always thought it was magic. I mean, what else could it be?"

"What, exactly, did you think was magic?"

"All the stuff I can do."

"I must ask you to be specific. What is it you can do?"

Before answering, I stared at him with the same look he had used earlier, although my bright green eyes did not have the same x-ray effect his twinkling blue ones did. I wanted to see if he was trustworthy, if he would call me a freak. I saw nothing but curiosity and interest, so I started to answer. "Anything I want, really. I can make things out of thin air, like books when I don't have time to go to the library. I can make light when it's dark or make things move without touching them. I can change things into different things, or change their appearance. Every morning when I dress, my clothes change colour and pattern to match perfectly. I can make small amounts of food from the kitchen appear in my room and make them larger so they're big enough to eat. I can disappear and reappear somewhere else instantaneously." I had started out slow, and cautious, but sped up with excitement as I explained everything I could do, and as I saw no inclination in his face to call me a freak.

When I was finished, Professor Dumbledore stared at me in surprise. He couldn't comprehend how an untrained eleven year old girl was as advanced as any seventh year at Hogwarts, and could even apparate. To be sure of his suspicions, he asked, "You can do this all wilfully; on purpose? It's not something that just happened without explanation?"

"Yeah, mostly. I don't notice my clothes changing; that happens by itself. But pretty much everything else I do on purpose."

"Very well. Thank you for being so specific and forthcoming. Will you attend Hogwarts?"

"What do my parents think?"

"They needed time to comprehend everything I told them; they didn't give any sort of response. You can go ask them now if you like."

I ran off to the kitchen to talk to my parents. A few minutes later I returned to the sitting room, my parents following behind me. Professor Dumbledore looked around at us, waiting for one of us to explain what had just been discussed in the kitchen without him.

"Of course she'll go to Hogwarts," my mum said. "There's really no alternative is there?"

"I'm sorry to say that there is no alternative. Wizard families may home school their children if they like, but that is not available to muggle families such as yourselves.

Sounding impatient, my dad burst in, "Very well. She'll go to Hogwarts, but we need more information. How will she get there? Where will she get her supplies? How will she pay for her supplies?" Dad left off as though there were still many questions to be answered, but he thought they would be answered without having to be asked.

Professor Dumbledore spoke in a quick and concise manner. "A train leaves at 11:00 on the first of September every year from Platform 9 ¾ at Kings Cross Station. Platform 9 ¾ can be accessed by simply walking through the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. Supplies can be bought in Diagon Alley. I will escort you to Diagon Alley. You can exchange muggle money for wizard money in Gringotts, the bank in Diagon Alley. Wizards use owls to carry their mail. The muggle post cannot get to Hogwarts. Lily will be able to come home for Christmas, Easter, and Summer breaks. Do you have any other questions?"

Neither Mum nor Dad had any further questions, so I spoke up and asked one of my own. "When will we go to Diagon Alley?"

"If you are all amenable, I shall escort you there tomorrow morning."

"Petunia and my parents too?"

"Of course. If they wish to come."

Dad spoke up, "Of course, we'll all come." Mum gave him a questioning look, and a short and silent conversation ensued. Dad would have to miss work to come with us, and Mum didn't approve of Dad missing work unless he was sick. After a couple minutes, it appeared that any scruples she had were assuaged.

"Good. I shall come back here at 10:00 tomorrow morning to escort the four of you to Diagon Alley."

With this, Professor Dumbledore stood up and walked towards the door, but Mum began to protest. "What! Won't you stay here? I wouldn't dream of having you leave." Mum was very well mannered and couldn't let someone spend the night imposing on someone else's hospitality, or worse, staying at an inn, if they could stay at our house.

But Professor Dumbledore overrode her. "I thank you very much for your kind hospitality, but I could never intrude. It is no trouble at all; it takes only a second to get home and I would prefer my own bed."

Mum could not fight against the pull of his own home, and his own bed, so she let him leave. Before he left, he handed me an envelope made of heavy parchment, with "Ms. L. Evans The Disney Bedroom Number 26 Cherry Tree Avenue Sevenoaks Kent" written on the front in emerald ink. I tucked the letter in a pocket, to look at later, and turned to Mum, ecstatic.

"Oh! Mummy, can I go tell Tuney?"

Mum was about to say no, but at the look of excitement on my face, she relented. "Yes, you can go tell her. But I want you both in bed in half an hour. It's late and we've got a big day tomorrow."

Unable to contain my excitement, I ran upstairs to tell Petunia, my 9 year-old sister, what had just happened. Petunia was just as thrilled as I was when she learned what had been happening downstairs while she was upstairs preparing for bed. She wanted to know if she was a witch too. I didn't know, but I told her to ask Professor Dumbledore the next day when he took us to Diagon Alley. We were both so excited for the next day that our allotted half-hour ended in what felt like a couple minutes. Although both of us wanted to stay up, and felt much too keyed up to sleep, there was no arguing with our mother when she came up to tell us it was bedtime. Petunia and I went to bed and both managed to fall asleep with little trouble.

**(A/N) I hope you liked it! Please, please, review. It's my first story and I need the feedback!**

**Next chapter: Lily visits Diagon Alley and meets the Potter family!**


	2. A Friend in Diagon Alley

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

**Chapter 2: A Friend in Diagon Alley**

I woke up early the next morning, to be extra early for our appointment with Professor Dumbledore, buy I was still the last person out of bed. I hurried through my morning routine, so I would have time to read the letter Professor Dumbledore had handed me. When I was ready to go, I pulled it out of my pocked and opened the heavy parchment envelope. There were two pieces of the same heavy parchment inside. I chose the smaller one first. Written in the same emerald ink was:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL _of _WITCHCRAFT _and _WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Percival Dumbledore

_(Order of Merlin, First Class)_

Dear Ms. Evans,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Maggie Cantamen

Maggie Cantamen,

_Deputy Headmistress_

I unfolded the other piece of paper. It was the mentioned list of supplies. It read:

UNIFORM

First-year students will require:

Three sets of plain work robes (black)

One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags.

COURSE BOOKS

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

_The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) _by Miranda

Goshawk

_A History of Magic _by Bathilda Bagshot

_Magical Theory _by Adalbert Waffling

_ A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration _by Emeric Switch

_ One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi _by Phyllida Spore

_ Magical Drafts and Potions _by Arsenius Jigger

_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them _by Newt

Scamander

_ The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection _by Quentin

Trimble

OTHER EQUIPMENT

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set brass scales

Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad.

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS

I didn't understand any of the things on the list. I hoped Professor Dumbledore would help clarify things.

At nine o'clock, everybody was ready to go, so Dad called all of us into the sitting room for some important information. We all sat down and waited for him to begin speaking; none of us had any idea why he wanted to talk to us.

It was hard for him to decide how to start, and his voice was slow and fumbling. "I must confess that I have had a secret for the past twenty years. I do not believe it would have been possible to explain to any of you, but I am sorry for it all the same." His face showed the truth of his words. Pain was etched across his face as he thought of how he had betrayed our trust. "This world of magic to which we were introduced yesterday is not completely new to me. My sister was a muggle-born and attended Hogwarts. Even though I never met her, when I met my parents, they told me everything. I couldn't tell you because no one is supposed to know about the magical world and because I thought you would think I was crazy." We spent the next forty-five minutes questioning him about his sister and comforting him because he felt so bad about not telling us sooner.

Just as the clock was chiming 10:00, as had been agreed, Professor Dumbledore knocked on the door and half an hour later, the five of us were standing on Charing Cross Road, in London. Living so close to London, it was a street we visited often; we were all confused as to where this Diagon Alley could be, for we had never seen it. I looked at Professor Dumbledore, and saw that he was looking at the dingy, dirty bar just in front of us.

"You mean we have to go in there?" I asked him.

Before he could answer, my mum asked, "In where? The bookshop? The record shop? Neither of them sells anything you'd need at Hogwarts."

Distracted for a moment, I responded, "No. The bar between the bookshop and the record shop."

Mum was bewildered. She could not see any bar on the street, let alone right in front of her between two buildings which were very obviously side by side. I had always been able to see it, but had never mentioned it because I had always thought my family could see it as well. Professor Dumbledore intervened. "Yes Lily, we have to go into the Leaky Cauldron. You and I are the only ones here who can see it; it is shielded from muggle eyes." Now everyone was confused, and it took a minute for us to recover ourselves by reminding ourselves that this was a world of magic we were dealing with, and everything may not be as it appeared.

Professor Dumbledore walked into the pub, and we followed. The ghost of a hunchbacked, bald, and toothless old man behind the counter tried to get us to stop for drinks, but Professor Dumbledore smiled at him, shook his head, and said, "Not today Tom." We passed through the back door into a small, walled courtyard with nothing but a rubbish bin in it. Pulling out a wand, Professor Dumbledore tapped a brick in the wall three times.

"You'll have to remember this brick to come back to Diagon Alley," he said, looking down at me. "Three up, two across from the top of the rubbish bin, and three taps." I didn't see how I could remember that, but I tried to commit it to memory. As I was concentrating, I missed the hole that appeared in the brick wall and became a large archway. Professor Dumbledore drew my attention to it as he said, "Welcome to Diagon Alley." He led us down the cobblestoned street lined with shops. At the end of the street was a large, snowy white, marble building, which Professor Dumbledore said was Gringotts, the wizard bank. We reached the large bronze doors, where we saw our first goblin. We passed him in silence, following Professor Dumbledore's example, and walked through the bronze doors, now facing a pair of silver doors. I noticed that the silver doors had words engraved upon them and stopped to read them:

_Enter, stranger, but take heed_

_Of what awaits the sin of greed,_

_For those who take, but do not earn,_

_Must pay most dearly in their turn._

_So if you seek beneath our floors_

_A treasure that was never yours, _

_Thief, you have been warned, beware_

_Of finding more than treasure there. _

There were more goblins at the silver doors; we passed these in silence as well. Now we were in a vast marble hall. There must have been a hundred goblins behind the long counters, and many more goblins showing people in and out of the countless doors out of the hall. Professor Dumbledore approached one of the goblins behind the counter.

"We need a currency exchange from British pounds." I didn't understand what he meant, but it was apparent that the goblin did.

"Who will be providing the money for the exchange?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Evans. They are muggles, so I shall be helping." Professor Dumbledore brought Mum and Dad forward as he talked.

While Petunia stood petrified next to mum's side, I let my attention wander around the hall. I watched the goblins working behind the counters, and the people going to and fro. One family caught my eye. The family was made up of a young married couple, and their three children. The man was of average height and slender build. He had untidy black hair, and kept a fringe, which I thought odd. As I watched him, his hair moved a little bit and I could see a scar shaped like a lightning bolt on his forehead. That explained the fringe. He also wore round glasses. I could discern nothing more, so I moved to his wife. She was also of average height, but was taller than her husband. Her hair was bright orange, and her face looked kind and happy. The father was talking to the middle child, a boy with untidy black hair like his father's. I estimated him to be about 13. It was not a parental talk; they were chatting. The mother was talking to the youngest child, a girl with red hair, but her hair was closer to the colour of my hair than her mother's. She looked to be about my age and it was clear that the mother was comforting her daughter. I supposed that she was excited and nervous about her first year at Hogwarts, just as I was myself. The eldest child, another boy with black hair, although his hair was neater than his brother's and father's, was walking alone behind his parents and younger siblings. He appeared to be around 15 and was sulking for having to be stuck with his parents. I let my attention wander away from the family for a few minutes as I continued watching the activity in the large hall. I was surprised, therefore, when I looked for them again, to find they were heading towards me.

Harry Potter, the father I had been watching, had been talking with Albus, when he spotted Professor Dumbledore. He pointed him out to Ginny, and they altered course to talk to him.

"Professor Dumbledore!" Harry said as they got nearer. "I hadn't expected to see you here."

"I'm here escorting a new student." Professor Dumbledore replied, pointing to me. Mum and Dad had just finished the money exchange, so Professor Dumbledore accompanied Harry outside to talk for a while. Ginny led my parents after them, which left us children alone together. I walked up to the girl, Petunia treading on my heels as she followed behind me. The two boys ignored me and my sister as James started teasing Albus.

"Hello." I said. "My name's Lily Evans and this is my sister, Petunia."

The other girl had been looking terrified, but after learning my name, she spoke up, although she still sounded shy. "That's odd… My name's Lily too. I was named for my grandmother…, and I heard _her_ maiden name was Evans."

Although Evans was a common last name, this seemed too much to be a coincidence.

"Tuney and I were named for our aunts. My father had a younger sister named Lily, and an elder sister named Petunia."

"Well, that's odder... I know my grandma Lily had an elder sister named Petunia…, but I never heard of her having a brother."

"We can go ask my father if his sister is your grandmother." Lily agreed to this plan, and we started walking over to Mum and Dad, who were talking with Ginny. While we were walking, I asked, "Are you starting Hogwarts this year?"

"Yes… I'm going to be a first year. You too?"

"Yes. My parents are muggles, so Professor Dumbledore just came to my house yesterday to tell me about Hogwarts."

"My grandma Lily was muggle-born too." We were silent for a moment as I cast around for another topic, and thought of her "Grandma Lily."

"It sounds like you really like your grandmother. Do you see her often?"

"She died when my father was young… But he loves to talk about her." This matched what information I had about my aunt, so I asked a question to support our theory.

"She and her husband were murdered, leaving their one year-old son, Harry?"

"Yes… How did you know that?"

"My father said his sister and her husband were murdered, but their one year-old son survived." By this time, we had reached the adults. Lily had become shy again, and clung to her mother, so I did the talking.

"Daddy, we think that her grandmother was your sister." Dad looked dubious, and nothing I said could convince him that this random family we met in this strange place was so closely related to us. But Professor Dumbledore heard what was being said, and spoke up.

"Ah yes. This was brought up last night." Looking at Dad, and motioning to Harry, he said, "This, Mr. Evans, is Harry Potter, your sister's son." Looking now at me and Lily, he said, "You are both named for the same person: Lily Evans, who became Lily Potter."

The two of us just looked at each other with excitement and amazement; there were no words for that moment. After a few minutes more, everyone wrapped up their conversations, realizing it was time to continue their shopping. Lily and I did not want to part, so I ran up to my parents and begged that I be allowed to continue my shopping with the Potters. It took a long time to convince them, but after a long debate, a suitable plan was formed. As Petunia was tired and over-excited, it was decided that Professor Dumbledore would escort Mum, Dad, and Petunia home. I would stay and get my supplies with the Potters, and they would take me home when we were done.

The first stop was Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions_,_ where we would buy our uniforms. As soon as we said they were for Hogwarts, the four of us were whisked off into a back room. We all stood on short stools as our robes were hemmed. About half an hour later, we left Madam Malkin's and stopped at a store to buy parchment and ink. Then we entered Flourish and Blotts, the bookstore to get our textbooks. As we were from three different grades, and needed three different sets of books, this took a little while. Next was the Apothecary, which Lily and I found disgusting. The two of us needed a basic set of potions ingredients, so we got our sets first and waited outside while Albus and James bought more advanced sets.

By this time, it was time for lunch, so we stopped back at the Leaky Cauldron. While we were eating, Ron and Hermione walked in with Hugo and Rose. They sat and waited for us to finish eating, so all of us could go around Diagon Alley together. I didn't know this new family that was talking to the Potters with such familiarity, and I tried to learn as much as I could about them from watching them. Ron was a bit lanky, and uncoordinated, but he was tall and well built. Hermione was much smaller, and had thick brown hair falling down her back. Her brown eyes gleamed with intelligence. Rose was Albus' age. She was thin, but not a stick and her red hair was pulled back in a simple ponytail. Her clothes looked nice, but not as if she cared much about her appearance. Hugo was Lily's and my age. His light red hair was unkempt, and his clothes were disheveled. A mischievous light gleamed in his eyes, but I could also see kindness in his eyes too. He sat down next to Lily, and she introduced him to me. He was lost and awkward. He was used to spending time with Lily alone, or with Lily and their families, not Lily and another friend. I felt the same. I had just met Lily, and was still getting to know her. I didn't want a closer friend getting in the way of that. Lily saw this, and started a conversation so Hugo and I could get to know each other and become comfortable with each other.

After lunch was finished, Albus, James, and Rose were allowed to do as they wished. Ron and Hermione went off to buy their children's supplies to make up for the missed morning. Lily, Hugo, and I went with Harry and Ginny to buy our wands and a pet, and then to visit Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. As we walked, we would stop in the various stores to buy our other supplies, such as our telescope. Our first stop was to Ollivanders. I noticed the sign on the door stating that Ollivanders had been making wands since 382 B.C. Before I could point it out, we were inside. Lily and Hugo had both been inside before with elder siblings, but it was my first time. It was a tiny, shabby place, and it was dead silent. There were thousands of narrow wand boxes piled all the way up to the ceiling. All of a sudden, a quiet voice made everyone in the shop jump.

"Ah… Mr. Potter. I remember so clearly when you stepped in here to buy your wand… And Mrs. Potter as well…"

Mr. Ollivander started by reminiscing upon selling a wand to Harry and Ginny. He passed over Ginny by stating what materials her wand was made of and what qualities it had. But he spent a long time remembering his first meeting with Harry. Lily whispered to Hugo and me,

"He does this every time Dad walks in here. I've already heard it twice. He repeated it each time Dad came in here for James' and Albus' wands."

After almost half an hour, Harry interrupted Mr. Ollivander's muttered soliloquy. "I'm sorry Mr. Ollivander, but we need to buy wands for these three children and we must be getting along to our other errands."

Mr. Ollivander looked as if he had just noticed Lily, Hugo and I. "Who shall go first?" he asked.

At this point, Ginny took over. "Lily Evans will go first. Then Hugo. Then our daughter." There were some protests over this decision, but Ginny reminded us all, "Guests first" and everything was settled.

The first couple wands Mr. Ollivander gave me felt like dead sticks of wood. The third wand, however, surprised me. A comfortable warmth spread up my arm and my wand glowed. This was nothing like the dead pieces of wood the first few wands had been. Mr. Ollivander seemed pleased. He muttered as he wrapped up my wand, and when he gave it to me, he said with pride in his voice,

"Mahogany and unicorn hair, 10 inches, swishy"

Then it was Hugo's turn. He tried about ten wands and got a wand made of oak and dragon heartstring, about 12 inches long. Lily had to try the most wands. As Mr. Ollivander pulled wands down from the shelves, he made several muttered references to the fact that she was a tricky customer like her father had been, and like her brothers had not. After trying about twenty wands, she left with a wand made of willow and phoenix feather, about 11 inches long. Mr. Ollivander bowed us out of his shop, and we were all glad to leave.

Our next stop was at the Eyelop's Owl Emporium to buy Lily and Hugo each an owl. Lily picked a small, female barn owl. Hugo picked a much larger male tawny owl. Lily named her owl Eglantine, from a book she had once read. Hugo named his owl Hermes, after the Greek god of messengers. I had decided while reading the list of required school supplies that I wanted a cat, instead of an owl, so we went to the Magical Menagerie. I picked a cat with fur so light grey that it was almost white. She was a shorthair, and was the softest cat I'd ever petted. She had started meowing at me to pet her as soon as I walked in the door. I named her Elyssa after my best friend from grade school.

After we had everything we needed for school, the five of us headed to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, George's joke shop. Unlike the other shops in Diagon Alley, Weasley's Wizard Wheezes was exploding with colour and sound, and every inch of space was taken up by either merchandise or customers. Hugo bought some of almost everything in the shop, except from the muggle and witch sections. I bought a couple Self-Inking and Spell-Checking quills, and Lily bought a Reusable Hangman.

About an hour before dinner time, everyone finished their shopping. The Weasleys and the Potters parted ways as they left Diagon Alley. On their way back home, the Potters dropped me off at my house just in time for dinner. I had had a wonderful day, and I told my family all about it. Most of all, I was delighted to have two friends guaranteed for Hogwarts.

**(A/N) Please, please, review. I need the feedback! **

**Next chapter: They're on their way to Hogwarts. **


	3. The Hogwarts Express

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. **

Chapter 3: The Hogwarts Express

The next two weeks flew by. Before I knew it, it was the thirty-first of August. My parents informed me that night that they wanted to leave at ten in the morning to be sure we were on time for the train. I packed before going to bed, and the next morning, I had almost nothing to do. We left at ten o'clock in the morning and arrived at King's Cross Station at 10:45. In no time, we were on Platform 9 ¾. I stored my trunk on the train and said good bye to my parents. They left and I started looking for my friends.

The platform was crowded with people, and steam from the train filled the air. After a couple minutes, I spotted the Weasleys and the Potters just coming through the barrier. I walked up to them, happy to see my two friends again. We chatted of the upcoming year as Lily and Hugo put their trunks with mine. It didn't take long for all of us to notice a problem; when Hugo called Lily, both of us responded. He became quite fed up.

"You two need bloody nicknames, so I don't go completely barmy with both of you responding to everything I say."

We all thought about it for a few minutes and decided that we would go by our middle names. Lily would be Luna, and I would be Minerva, Minnie for short. If anyone said Lily, they would be talking to both of us.  
>Soon it was time to board the train. Harry and Ginny hugged their children goodbye, and Ron and Hermione did the same. Ginny noticed that my mum and dad had already left, so she hugged me goodbye too. Then the six of us boarded the train, sat in the compartment where we had put our trunks, and watched Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione wave goodbye through the window as the train sped around the corner.<p>

As the train sped across England, Lily, Hugo, and I could not contain our excitement. We were going to Hogwarts! Lily and Hugo had been waiting for this day their entire lives, and I was still thrilled by everything I saw because it was so new to me. We were in our own compartment, and could do anything we liked. We talked of every subject that came to our minds. We learned a lot about each other's families. Hugo and Lily even learned some things about each other that they hadn't known. Hugo was interested when he heard me talking about Petunia; he hadn't seen her in Diagon Alley, and he knew as well of Lily's grandma Lily and great aunt Petunia.

Just as the three of us were starting to get hungry, an elderly witch came down the hall pushing a trolley full of sweets. I offered to buy for everyone, but the other two were dismayed when I came back into the compartment with almost no food. I was confused by the anger on my friends' faces, and, before they had time to say anything, had pointed my wand at the meagre pile of food and multiplied it so there was plenty to eat. Lily's and Hugo's faces changed from anger and dismay to complete shock. I was still confused. I didn't realise how advanced the magic I had just performed was.

"How the bloody hell did you just do that?" Hugo burst out.

"I've been able to do that for years. I thought it was normal once I discovered I was a witch."

Hugo just sat and stared at me, so Lily explained. "No, that is definitely not normal. Before coming to Hogwarts, children can do magic, but almost no one can control it, and the inadvertent magic is much less powerful than that. Even James hasn't learned how to do that yet, and he's finished his fourth year at Hogwarts."

Lily noticed I was uncomfortable, so she changed the subject and the conversation ensued almost like normal.

We started eating our candy. We started with the chocolate frogs and Hugo took every card. He collected chocolate frog cards, but Lily and I thought it silly. He seemed excited at the cards he got. Although he had collected chocolate frog cards for years, he mostly got cards he needed. When the chocolate frogs were gone, we opened up the Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. Having grown up in the muggle world, I thought they were just jelly beans, and showed no caution in eating them. It didn't take long for me to learn to avoid the Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. The first one I took, I assumed was green apple, but it turned out to be grass. One I thought to be toffee was earwax, and one I thought was cherry was blood. After those three, all of us left the Every Flavor Beans alone. We moved on to Pumpkin Pasties, which we all thought delicious, and then to Droobles Best Blowing Gum, which filled the compartment with large gum bubbles, then to Cauldron Cakes and Licorice Wands. In what seemed like no time at all, all our food was gone. Lily and Hugo pulled out a game of Exploding Snap. They were both quite good at it, but I had never played before, so I took to looking out the window at the country side that was becoming wilder and greener the farther we went, and let them play.

As it was starting to get dark outside, Albus came into our compartment, to tell us, "We should be at Hogwarts soon. You should put on your robes."

We decided to follow his advice and changed into our school robes. Just as we had all finished changing, the train slowed down as it pulled into the station. We started trying to make our way off the train along with all the other students. After what seemed forever, the three of us were standing on the platform in the cool night air. There were students streaming past us, but we stood still, not knowing where to go.

Amidst all the confusion, a voice, louder than all the others, called, "First years, follow me! First years, over here! Follow me, please!"

We looked around for the source of the voice, and saw a woman holding a lantern high above the heads of the students. We started making our way towards her, which meant swimming upstream. By the time we reached this witch, a small group of first years had already gathered around her. After a few minutes more, when there was a group of about forty students, she led us away from the crowd and down a narrow, winding path. We passed around a large bend in the road, and there was a sudden collective gasp from the group; we had come to the shore of a large black lake, and up high on a mountain on the other side was Hogwarts castle, shimmering with lights. Near the shore of the lake was a fleet of small boats, which we were directed to get into. Lily, Hugo, and I got in one of the boats, and were joined by another boy, who introduced himself as Byford Adams.

The witch leading us said something, which none of us could hear, and the boats started moving forward. Although the lake should have been churning from the speed the boats were going, the lake was as still as the surface of a mirror. After a few minutes, it was clear the boats were headed at full speed toward a solid rock cliff. Just before they reached the cliff, our guide instructed us to keep our heads down and the boats sailed through a curtain of ivy concealing a tunnel. Soon they came upon shore and everyone got out. We walked up the rest of the tunnel and came out right in front of the castle.

The large front doors opened without making a noise and we were led into a hall larger than any whole building anyone had ever seen. In the light inside the castle we got our first good look at our guide. She was a middle-aged witch with high, prominent cheekbones, and a stern face, but twinkling electric blue eyes, like Professor Dumbledore's. Her hair was jet black, although it had some streaks of silver throughout, and it was braided and then coiled up in a bun. There was a lot of noise coming from a room to the right, but she led us into a small room to wait.

She gave us a moment to assemble in the chamber; then she began speaking.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. My name is Professor Cantamen. The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your Houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your House will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your House, sleep in your House dormitory, and spend free time in your House common room."

She paused and looked around at all the assembled students, as if to make sure we understood the importance of the Sorting. Then she continued, "The four Houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each House has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your House points, while any rule-breaking will lose House points. At the end of the year, the House with the most points is awarded the House cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever House becomes yours."

Again she paused and looked at each student to emphasize her point. Then, again, she continued, "The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting. I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly." She glanced once more at each student before sweeping out of the room.

**(A/N) Please, please review! I need the feedback! **

**Next chapter: Everyone gets sorted. **


	4. The Sorting

**(A/N) I hope you like this chapter! This chapter is the sorting, so we get to meet a lot of new characters. Many of them are mostly fillers - we've already met most of the main characters - but some of them will be coming back. And many of them are children of some of the characters from the books. There's a small Percy Jackson reference in this chapter, that will be expanded upon in the sequel I am planning on posting. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. **

**Chapter 4: The Sorting**

Each and every student in that little room was terrified. The children raised in Wizarding families knew what was happening, but were worried about which house they were about to be sorted into. They had family pride to uphold. Lily and Hugo both wanted to be in Gryffindor with all their heart, because everyone in their families had been in Gryffindor. The muggle-borns, like me, had no idea what was going on, or what was involved in the sorting ceremony, and we were petrified because we didn't know what to expect. At my urgent request, Lily and Hugo explained the Sorting Ceremony to the best of their understanding. Each student would put on an old, battered hat that looked into their minds and determined which House fit the student best based on certain attributes that set the Houses apart.

They explained that Gryffindor was for brave students, Ravenclaw for smart students, Hufflepuff for loyal and hardworking students, and Slytherin for cunning and ambitious students. All bad witches and wizards had been put in Slytherin, and no one wanted to be in Slytherin except for those few students who wanted to learn the Dark Arts, or those who believed that they were better than everyone because they had no muggle blood. There were almost no muggle-borns in Slytherin, because Slytherins hated muggle-borns so much. Counter to that, some of the best fighters against Voldemort, like their parents, had been in Gryffindor along with most famous witches and wizards, like Albus Dumbledore.

By this time, Professor Cantamen had returned. She led us in a single file line into the Great Hall. The first thing I noticed was the four long tables at which the students were sitting and the table perpendicular to these where the staff sat. I saw Professor Dumbledore sitting in the middle of this table. While looking at the tables, my attention was drawn to the thousands of candles floating in midair, which drew my attention to the strangest feature of the room: the ceiling, or apparent lack thereof. I heard several gasps as the other first years saw the ceiling for the first time; many believed there was no ceiling. While the first years had been looking around them at this amazing room, we had walked, almost without noticing, to the front of the hall, near the staff table.

Professor Cantamen placed a stool on the ground, and a pointed wizard's hat on top of the stool. As Lily and Hugo had said, the hat was filthy and tattered. I knew we were each supposed to put it on, but Professor Cantamen was just standing there. I did not have long to contemplate why, before a rip in the hat opened wide like a mouth, and it started singing:

"_I know I'm not the prettiest hat_

_You're youthful eyes have seen_

_But I've been here o'er a thousand years_

_And Oh! the things through which I've been_

_When Hogwarts was first founded_

_I was naught but a simple hat_

_But the founders worried for when they were gone_

_And gave me their job for when came that_

_For while alive each founder _

_Picked out those few children_

_Who they believed most worthy_

_To become great a magician_

_Gryffindor took those stout of heart_

_Slytherin preferred ambition_

_Hufflepuff picked those hard workers_

_And Ravenclaw wanted the brightest children_

_So though I'm not a new shiny cap_

_I've never yet been wrong_

_I do the job the founders gave me_

_And tell you where you belong"_

The students applauded, and then silence returned. Now Professor Cantamen stepped forward with a scroll of parchment. "When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. Then she started calling off names. "Adams, Byford."

The boy who had sat with us in our boat stumbled out of the line and walked towards the stool. Trembling, he sat down and put on the Sorting Hat. He sat there for a few moments, until the Hat called out "HUFFLEPUFF!" He stood up, put the hat on the stool again, and walked towards the Hufflepuff table, which was clapping.

Next Professor Cantamen called Gabriella Bennett, who was sorted into Hufflepuff as well. Then a girl named Rena Brown was sorted into Slytherin. Clarke Chapman was the first to go Ravenclaw, and Kelly Clark was sorted into Hufflepuff. Harry Creevy went to Gryffindor, and Willard Davies followed him. I was expecting to be called soon, and was shaking from nervousness, but the next name Professor Cantamen called shocked me out of this stupor. "Dursley, Norbert." Behind me, I heard Lily give a little gasp. I remembered that he was her cousin as well. Together, we watched a chubby boy with black hair and a sullen expression walk up to the stool, sit down, and place the hat on his head. The room was silent for a few minutes, as the hat took quite a while to decide which house to put him in. After the longest pause it had given so far, it called out, "HUFFLEPUFF!" Norbert took off the hat and walked to the Hufflepuff table. Then it was my turn.

I walked up to the stool, feeling like my legs were about to collapse under me, and sat down, slipping the hat on. As with all the other students, it was much too large, and I was soon staring at the inside of the hat, and a little voice was whispering in my ear.

"Incredible talent! More than I've ever seen. But it's not brains, necessarily. The only real option is… GRYFFINDOR!"

I took off the hat, and hurried to the Gryffindor table. Now I only had to watch, and hope my friends were put in Gryffindor as well. As I approached the table, Albus smiled at me, and made room for me to sit next to him.

With the dread of my sorting over, I watched as the rest of the students were sorted until I heard Professor Cantamen call out, "Potter, Lily!" I watched my best friend sit down on the stool, and, almost as soon as the hat touched her head, she was sorted into Gryffindor. Lily sat down next to me, and together we watched as student after student was sorted. When a boy named Charles Smith was called forward, I saw a bow hanging from his back. I leaned towards Lily and whispered, "Luna, do you see the bow he has slung on his back?"

"No. There's nothing there, Minnie." It seemed strange that she didn't see the large bow he had, but I shrugged it off. It was my first day in the magical world, everything seemed strange to me.

Hugo was the last student to be sorted. We were anxious as we watched him put on the hat, but it did not take long to decide to put him in Gryffindor as well.

Gryffindor had ended up with three other girls named Emily Lee, Evelyn Powell, and Elsa Finnigan, and four boys named Charles Smith (the boy with the bow), Christopher Matthews, Willard Davies, and Harry Creevy. With the sorting over, the feast was about to begin. Professor Dumbledore stood up.

"Welcome all, to another year at Hogwarts. A reminder to all that the Forbidden Forest is off-limits and that magic in the halls is strictly forbidden. Now, it is time to eat!"

And faster than the blink of an eye, the tables were piled high with food. I saw all my favorite things to eat, and many things I had never seen before. In spite of all the sweets from the train, Lily, Hugo, and I were starving, and we began to pile our plates high with food. Everybody was so busy eating at first, that nobody said a word. When we finished with the food on the table, it disappeared and the desserts appeared.

When we could not take another bite, the desserts too disappeared. Once again, Professor Dumbledore stood up. "Now, it is time for sleep, but before we all head to our beds, the school song must be sung!" He flicked his wand, and a ribbon sprung from the tip, winding and curving in the air to form words. "Everyone pick your favorite tune!"

"_Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,_

_Teach us something please,_

_Whether we be old and bald_

_Or young with scabby knees,_

_Our heads could do with filling_

_With some interesting stuff,_

_For now they're bare and full of air,_

_Dead flies and bits of fluff,_

_So teach us things worth knowing,_

_Bring back what we've forgot,_

_Just do your best, we'll do the rest, _

_And learn until our brains all rot."_

Because everyone sang to a different tune, everyone ended at different times, but when the last people finished, we all headed to bed.

The first years followed their prefects to the common rooms, so Lily, Hugo, and I followed James Potter and another fifth year named Emma Barnes to the Gryffindor dormitories. I started panicking as I tried to remember the route to Gryffindor tower. I had no idea how I was supposed to find my way back to the Great Hall for breakfast, not to mention finding any of my classes. After what felt like hours of walking, we reached a portrait of a lady in a pink dress.

"Password?" she asked.

"Fiducia" James said, with an almost tangible air of superiority. The picture swung forward without another word, to reveal a hole behind it. James and Emma climbed through the portrait hole, and the first years followed, tripping over their feet as they tried to climb through the hole. We were now standing in Gryffindor common room, a large round room, decorated in all scarlet and gold, with a bright fire in a large fireplace, and about fifty comfy-looking arm chairs. James led the boys up a spiral staircase to their dormitory, and Lily, the other girls, and I followed Emma up another spiral staircase to the girl's dormitory.

In my exhaustion I noticed that there were five four-poster beds, and that my trunk was sitting at the foot of one of them. I changed into my nightgown and climbed into my bed, just managing to pull the curtains closed around my bed before falling asleep.

**(A/N) Please, please review! I need your feedback! I need to know if you love the story, hate it, or if it just isn't interesting.**

**Next chapter: First day of classes, and Lily, Lily, and Hugo make a couple new friends. **


	5. A New Friend

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. **

**Chapter 5: A New Friend**

When I woke the next morning, the three other girls, Emily, Elsa and Evelyn, had already left, but Lily was just waking. The two of us dressed and went down to the common room to wait until Hugo came down too. While we waited, Albus Potter came down and offered to show us to the Great Hall, and then to our classes for the day.

"Thanks so much, Albus. We're just waiting for Hugo to come down so he can come with us." Lily said.

Albus didn't mind, so he waited with us. When Hugo came down to the common room, he was chatting with another boy, who he introduced as Will Davies.

When we got to the Great Hall, the five of us sat down at the Gryffindor table and started to eat. As I was eating, I looked around at the other students in the hall. Two students in particular caught my eye, both at the Slytherin table. One was a girl who looked sympathetic and nice; she seemed to be pleading with me with her eyes for me to befriend her. The other was an imperious-looking girl. She caught me looking at her, and glared at me.

While we were at breakfast, Professor Cantamen, who was Head of Gryffindor House, distributed our schedules. I noticed the other heads of houses distributing the schedules for their houses as well. Our first class that day was Transfiguration with Professor Cantamen. When we were done with breakfast, Albus walked us to the Transfiguration classroom before walking to his first class. Because he needed time to get to his class, Lily, Hugo, Will, and I were the first ones there. We chose seats up in the first row, and sat down. Professor Cantamen looked surprised to see us there.

"You four are quite early. Any particular reason?" she asked. She was used to first years being late to the first class because they couldn't find their way around.

Lily replied, her voice trembling at the idea of talking to a teacher, "My older brother offered to show us the way, because we can't find our way anywhere yet. He didn't want to be late for his class, so we came here early."

Professor Cantamen was more surprised than ever. Older students didn't want to be seen with first years, so helping new students find their way was quite rare. Then she remembered that James Potter was a prefect, and prefects often considered it their duty to keep younger students from getting lost.

"James, you mean?"

"No, my other brother, Albus." Lily was surprised that Professor Cantamen had thought James had been the one to show them around. James would never want to be seen with his baby sister. He would be afraid his friends would think he was sissy.

"Hmm." Professor Cantamen returned her focus to her work instead of questioning further why four students were early to the first class of the day.

The rest of the students filtered in. Emily, Elsa and Evelyn walked in chatting and laughing, and sat in the back. I spotted the sympathetic-looking Slytherin girl I had noticed at breakfast; she didn't walk in with a friend, and looked scared, so I motioned to her to sit next to me. She brightened a little, and sat in the chair I had indicated. With encouraging smiles from me, Lily, Hugo, and Will, she introduced herself.

"Hi. M-My name is Breanne Foster." We all introduced ourselves, and before the lesson began, we had her smiling and laughing. I also saw the snobby Slytherin girl enter; she made a point of ignoring me.

The bell rang, but more than half the class was missing. Professor Cantamen took roll, but waited until the whole class was there to start the class. During roll, I watched the snobby Slytherin girl so I could learn her name. She raised her hand in response to the name Violet King.

"Good morning. My name, as you are all aware, is Professor Cantamen. This class is transfiguration, and will be very difficult. I expect good work from each and every one of you." With no more dilly-dallying, Professor Cantamen instructed us to take out parchment and quills so we could take notes.

After half an hour, Professor Cantamen stopped her lecture. She passed around a box of matches, instructing each student to take one. Our job was to turn our match into a needle. I grabbed my allotted one match, but before I started transfiguring it, I multiplied it, so I had about twenty matches on my desk. Then I set about transfiguring each one into a needle. To keep myself interested, each needle was different. I made tapestry needles of all different sizes, and a couple good sturdy sewing needles. Some of them were different colors, although most were just plain old silver. One of them I even patterned with flowers.

While I was busy, the rest of the class was struggling. The only student who had managed to make any change in his match had lit it. Since I was done early, I helped my friends. I helped Lily first.

"Don't just say the spell. Visualize a needle in your hand where the match is." I helped her with her pronunciation of the spell, and encouraged her to visualize the needle instead of the match. I did the same with my other friends; Hugo, Will, and Breanne.

Professor Cantamen had been wandering around, observing the students' attempts. By the time she reached where my friends and I were sitting, I had transfigured all my matches and had just finished helping my friends with theirs.

"My word! I have never seen such excellent work!" She was astonished, and a trifle suspicious, but also pleased. Then she noticed how many needles I had sitting on my desk. "Why do you have so many needles? Each student was instructed to take only one match."

"Yes, and I did only take one match. But before I began transfiguring it, I multiplied it, so I had more matches to work with."

Professor Cantamen gave Lily, Hugo, Will, Breanne, and I each another match and asked us to transform our new match. I again multiplied my match, until I had five on my desk and transfigured all five. The others had a little difficulty, but they managed to transfigure their matches without my help after a couple tries.

Professor Cantamen was delighted. "Wonderful! 10 points to each of you and 20 to Ms. Evans for her extra work."

We were all ecstatic. None of my friends had expected to do better than average in their classes, and we were now top of the class. And we had won 50 points for Gryffindor, and 10 for Slytherin in just one class period. The rest of the class wasn't as happy as we were. Violet King glared at me. They continued trying to transfigure their matches, but nobody else was able to make any change in their match.

A few minutes later, the class was over. Our next class was charms with Professor Keywing. Albus appeared at our Transfiguration class and showed us the way to the Charms classroom. This class was with Ravenclaw, so Breanne was not with us.

Professor Keywing was a tall, skinny man. He had a happy face; he almost never stopped smiling, and his eyes always looked like he was laughing. He had pale skin and light blond hair.

Charms followed a similar pattern to Transfiguration. Professor Keywing lectured for half an hour while we took notes, and after half an hour, we started attempting the charm "Lumos," a charm to create a light on the tip of the wand. Again, I mastered the spell in a matter of seconds, and started to help my friends. By the time Professor Keywing got to us, the four of us were talking and laughing; we had all accomplished the assignment.

"Less chatter please," he said, although he did not sound mad. "Let me see you four try the spell, please."  
>One by one, we all made the tip of our wands glow just like they were supposed to.<p>

"Very Good!" he said "Ten points to each of you." As he walked past us to check on the other students, we continued talking. We were happier than ever. We had just earned another 40 points for Gryffindor; 90 points in just two classes.

After Charms, we had lunch. News of our 90 points earned had spread, and all of Gryffindor was congratulating us. Albus told Lily, so I couldn't hear, "You've found a good friend." James, in his loudest voice and most portentous manner, congratulated Lily and Hugo.

"Congratulations Lily, Congratulations Hugo on being top of your class. Following in my footsteps, eh? It's a good plan. But of course, Hugo's achievement can be attributed to his mother."

Lily and Hugo wanted to strangle James for his attitude, but they tried to act polite and thanked him for his congratulations. He ignored Will and me.

After lunch, we had Herbology, so we walked out to the greenhouses. Albus accompanied us, although we did not need his help to find the greenhouses, so he could say hello to Professor Longbottom. Professor Longbottom was standing outside greenhouse 1, waiting for the students. He was a family friend of the Potters and Weasleys, and greeted Lily and Hugo as such. They then introduced Will and me. He was kind to Will, and was pleased to meet him, but he showed much more interest in me; Lily had mentioned how we were related. Like the rest of the school, he had heard of our instant standing as top of the class. Because he was such close friends with their families, he teased Lily and Hugo about it, but there was real pride behind his teasing words. It did not take long for the rest of the class to gather around. This class was with Hufflepuff, so it was my first chance to see Norbert. I watched him as he walked up, sullen and alone. I didn't want to start talking to him, because he didn't know I existed, but he knew about Lily, so she walked up to him and started talking to him.

"Hello, Norbert. I'm your cousin Lily, but call me Luna. This is your other cousin Lily. She's Minnie. How do you like Hogwarts?"

He seemed scared and sullen. "I don't like it here. I want to go back home. My parents won't love me anymore. They don't like magic. They think magic is evil. I don't want my parents to hate me."

Lily and I were both shocked at his response. Most muggle families adapted well to having a muggle-born child. We tried to continue talking to him, but he shut us out, thinking that if he enjoyed his time here, and made friends, his parents would hate him more.

Because it was our first day, we got a tour of Greenhouse 1. Here, I did not get any points, because I was muggle-born and had never heard of any of the plants, but the children raised in Wizarding families were able to answer all his questions, and a lot of points were handed out.

When that class was over, we found Breanne, and wandered around the grounds, talking and having a good time. Breanne had had difficulty in her other two classes, but, at her request, I worked with her, and she was soon able to master the spells she'd had difficulty with.

The week passed faster than we had expected. My friends and I earned points in every class, except History of Magic, where no points were offered. Only Breanne earned any points in Potions, because the teacher refused to hand out points to Gryffindors, no matter how well they did. History of Magic was the only class taught by a ghost, and it was also the most boring class. There was no magic involved; it was only lecturing. Professor Binns, the teacher, didn't even take roll. He started lecturing as soon as the bell rang, and stopped when it rang again. Most people slept through his class; it was almost impossible to not sleep while listening to him.

On Friday night, Professor Dumbledore called all the teachers to his office, as was his tradition, to review the first week of school, and, in particular, the new first years. The first topic was Lily, Hugo, Will, Breanne, and me. In the course of the week, the five of us had amassed almost 500 points, 50 of which went to Slytherin. Each teacher told their own part of the story of how these points had been earned.

Professor Allen, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, started. "My class was practicing 'Expelliarmis.' No one was able to do it. Some students dropped their wands, but nobody's was blasted from their hands. Except for six students. These five students, and Mr. Smith, had perfected the spell in only a few minutes."

Professor Snape, the Potions professor, went next. "Most of my students are dunderheads whose thick skulls I am forced to try and penetrate with information. These five students are a blessed release from that idiocy, because they actually manage to learn what I am trying to teach them and retain the information."

"The first transfiguration lesson is always turning matches to needles, but nobody ever manages it the first day. All five of these children had managed the task, and Ms. Evans had multiplied her single match and transformed twenty matches into twenty different needles. The others only managed it with her help, but they were able to do it a second time without her help."

"When students try 'Lumos' on the first day, it takes the whole period for anyone to get it, if anyone does. But when I got to these four children, they were sitting around talking because it had only taken a few minutes for all of them to successfully complete the spell. When I asked them to show me, all four were able to do it perfectly in one try."

After all our teachers had told their stories, the conversation moved on to the other students and classes.

The next day, Professor Dumbledore summoned me to his office.

"I have heard wonderful things about your first week here," he stated when I walked in. I didn't know how to respond, so he continued talking, asking me questions about my family. He knew everything there was to know about my father's side of the family, so he quizzed me about my mother. But compared with his knowledge of my father's side of my family, I knew almost nothing about my mother's side of my family. I told him about my Uncle Tom – my mum's brother – and my mum's parents. But I knew nothing further back than my own grandparents, because I only knew the people who came to our house for Christmas. He then asked me more about the talents I had described when I first met him, latching, in particular, onto my ability to go from one place to another in a second or less.

"How often do you do this?" He wasn't mad, but the question sounded like one that required a specific answer.  
>"I don't know. Not often, because my parents drove me almost anywhere I went." I didn't look him in the eye, but I was telling the truth.<br>"Do you know how far away you can go?" This time he definitely wasn't mad. He sounded more curious than anything. But the question itself still had an ominous ring to it.

"No. I only ever went across town. Never farther than that." This time I was lying, and I made the mistake of making eye contact. He knew I was lying, but he wasn't mad, and the fact that he knew I was lying wasn't what drove me to tell the truth. I don't know what drove me to tell the truth; I just couldn't lie to him.

"Once I wanted to test how far I could go. I started out small. Just across town. But I ended up going to the north coast. I got scared then, and went home. After that, I stuck to going around town."

He ignored the fact that I had lied and continued on. "Have you tried to do this since you came to Hogwarts?"  
>"No." It felt wrong to just say that, so I added, "I've been very busy and haven't needed to."<p>

I thought he was going to ask more questions, but he didn't. Instead, he became solemn, and the light in his eyes changed from a happy twinkle, to something cold, and unyielding. "This ability of yours is called apparating. It can be very dangerous, and is hard to master, so under-age witches and wizards are not allowed to apparate. When a witch or wizard turns seventeen, he or she can test for an apparating license." It seemed like he was done, but, almost as an afterthought, he added, "And Hogwarts is under certain spells to make it impossible to apparate inside the grounds."

"Since I can apparate, could I get my license early?"

"To my understanding, an apparition license is very much like a muggle driving license. Even if you can drive safely before you reach the age of 17, you are not allowed to test for your license until you reach that age."

After that, Professor Dumbledore dismissed me, but just before I left, he said, "I would like to remind you that magic is prohibited outside of class. Please refrain from using magic outside of class work, or homework."

I promised I would, and left.

**(A/N) Please, please review! If you don't review, I have no idea if you like the story and if I should keep updating. :( I was planning to do a seven book series of this story, paralleling Harry's years at Hogwarts, but I may stop after this story if I don't get any reviews. **

** Next chapter: getting used to Hogwarts. **


	6. Teatime

**(A/N) Sorry this has taken so long. I've had horrible writers block for chapters six and seven. Hopefully this is good, and chapter seven should hopefully be up on time next weekend. Thank you to Strawberry-Green-Girl and Skillets for reviewing. Skillets had a really good question, that I admit I don't answer during the story, so I'll explain it here. Q:_ There's one thing I don't understand: How can Ben have the same surname as his real family if he grew up away from them. He would probably have the last name as his adoptive parent, right...? I dunno, maybe it makes sense in later chapters... _A: In the little story I've composed to explain to myself how my new characters came to be, Ben's name was on his clothes, and the orphanage and his adoptive parents kept his given name. Sorry if this doesn't make sense or seems too far-fetched, it's the only way I could think of to create the character of Lily Evans**

Chapter 6: Teatime

It didn't take long for us to become used to Hogwarts. There were 142 staircases, which all loved to move, and some of which had trick steps. Some doors could only be opened in certain ways, or some doors were pretending to be blank stretches of wall while some blank stretches of wall were pretending to be doors, and the portraits and the suits of armour moved around. Despite all this, it took us less than a week to learn to navigate Hogwarts on our own.

It took less time than that to learn how to avoid Peeves, or to find Mr. Porter or Sir Nicholas when we needed them. Peeves was the poltergeist that haunted the school and he loved to get the students in trouble by reporting them to teachers, but he also loved to make the teachers' lives harder. He moved things, broke things, threw things (often at the students and teachers), and was disobedient and rude. He only obeyed the Bloody Baron, the ghost of Slytherin house. Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore had both tried to get rid of him, without success. Mr. Porter was the caretaker and he loved to help the students in any way he could. He helped students get to class on time, or find their way if they were lost. He also helped students out of trouble, so long as we found him before a teacher found us. We also learned how to avoid our more annoying classmates, such as Violet King, Harry Creevy, and James Potter.

As with all the first year girls, it only took us a couple days to learn about the bathroom on the second floor that Moaning Myrtle haunted. Lily, Breanne, and I met her on the second day of school as we stopped at the bathroom on our way from potions. When we walked in, we heard someone crying and water splashing in the end stall.

"Are you okay? Why are you crying?" Lily called out. We all jumped back as the ghost of a girl a couple years older than us glided through the door.

"Why wouldn't I be crying? Have you come to tease me as well? It's all anyone ever does. Why wouldn't everyone in Hogwarts love to make fun of ugly, miserable, moping, moaning Myrtle?"

"We didn't come to make fun of you. We didn't even know you were in here," I said, trying to calm her down. Unfortunately, it didn't work.

"Of course no one would remember me! Why would they? No one remembered I was in here while I was alive; it took them hours and hours to find my body after I died."

We kept trying to calm her down for the next few minutes, to no avail, until she suddenly gave a loud wail and dived back into the toilet in the end stall, splashing water all over the floor, and soaking the front of our robes. We glanced at one another, confused, before hurrying out of the bathroom.

As we were hurrying away from the bathroom, we ran into Professor Snape, the potions teacher.

"What was all the commotion about?" he asked, sounding as though anything we said would act as an excuse for him to deduct house points and give a detention.

Breanne spoke up, because Snape favoured Slytherins over Gryffindors. "We just met Moaning Myrtle, sir. She was quite affronted at the unknowing intrusion."

He glanced over the three of us before responding. "Very well. Make no mistake, if you cause such a disturbance again, there will be consequences." Without waiting for a reply, he swept past us and continued on his way.

More confused than ever, we continued to our dormitories to change our clothes before heading to the Great Hall for lunch.

At the end of our first week, during Herbology, Professor Longbottom asked Lily and Hugo to stay after class.

Will and I waited just outside the greenhouse while they talked to Longbottom. After a few minutes, they came out and we walked together towards Gryffindor tower to shower before lunch.

"What did he want to talk to you about?" I asked.

"Let's wait until we find Breanne, then we'll tell you," Lily responded.

We didn't find her until after we finished eating. After we ate lunch, we sat outside under the oak tree by the lake, where we always waited for her after meals. A couple minutes later, she sat down next to us.

"Why do you have to sit at the Slytherin table? Lily and Hugo have news for us, but they wouldn't tell us until you got here. We could have heard an hour ago!" I burst out as Breanne joined us. I wasn't really mad, just slightly annoyed, and I knew it wasn't Breanne's fault, but it sounded as though I was mad.

Breanne looked upset. "I don't have a choice. I have to sit at the Slytherin table. I'm in Slytherin. I would prefer to sit with my friends, instead of alone, but I'm not allowed at your table."

"Sit at the Gryffindor table for dinner tonight. See if anyone has a problem with it." I urged her.

"Minnie!" Will said, exasperated. Then he turned to Lily and Hugo. "Can you tell us why Longbottom wanted to talk to you now?"

"What? Why'd Longbottom want to talk to you two?" Breanne asked, surprised.

"He wanted to tell us that because he is friends with our parents, he wanted to invite us and our friends to tea every Saturday. He's been inviting James, Albus, and Rose since their first year here too." Hugo explained.

When we arrived at Longbottom's office on Saturday, Albus was already there, along with Hugo's older sister and two other people I didn't recognize. Hugo introduced us to his older sister, Rose. Will's older sister, Casey, was one of the two people I didn't know. Albus and Rose introduced their other friend, Scorpius Malfoy, a Slytherin. Hugo took the job of introducing the five of us to Rose, Casey, and Scorpius. We waited a few more minutes, but James didn't show up.

"What a surprise!" Casey said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"James rarely attends," Longbottom explained to us.

As Longbottom passed around tea and biscuits, he asked us to each talk a little about ourselves and our family. He started, once everyone had gotten tea. "I'm a pure-blood, but as I was growing up, my family thought I wouldn't have enough magic to come to Hogwarts. In school, I struggled a lot in most of my classes, and was extremely forgetful. The one class I thrived in was Herbology. My grandmother – she's the one who raised me – was so proud when I was good enough in something to become a teacher."

Albus went next. "I was raised in the Wizarding world; my dad's a half-blood and my mum's a pure-blood. This is my third year at Hogwarts, and I played seeker on the Gryffindor Quidditch team last year, like my father did while he was at Hogwarts."

"I'm a half-blood, because my mum's a muggle-born and my dad's a pure-blood, and I was raised in the Wizarding world. I'm Albus' cousin." Rose said.

Casey explained that her parents were Katie Bell and Roger Davies and that she had been a chaser on the Quidditch team the year before, like her mother.

Scorpius explained that his father, grandfather, and grandmother had been Death Eaters during You-Know-Who's reign, but that his father reformed after becoming a Death Eater, but still held some pure-blood ideals. Once he escaped the confines of his family and the people they exposed him to, he realized he didn't agree with his family's ideas, which was why he was in Slytherin, but was friends with the children of his father's childhood enemies.

Lily introduced herself and mentioned that she was Albus' sister, and that everyone should call her Luna, instead of Lily. I went next, because I had to introduce myself to explain Lily's nickname.

"I'm Lily Evans, Luna's cousin once removed. I'm a muggle-born, but my dad's sister is her grandmother. My nickname is Minnie."

Then Hugo explained that he, the same as Rose, was a half-blood, and Will repeated what his sister had said, adding that he hoped to be on the Quidditch team next year. Breanne's story was similar to Scorpius'. Her family hadn't been Death Eaters, but they had been supporters of You-Know-Who. She didn't like her parent's ideas, and had had an easier time making friends with Gryffindors than fellow Slytherins. She was only in Slytherin because her parents had convinced her prior to coming to Hogwarts that it was the only acceptable house.

Once she had finished, I asked "Who's 'You-Know-Who' and what are Death Eaters?" I hadn't heard anything about Voldemort during my short time in the Wizarding world.

Longbottom answered, "A long time ago, before I was born, an evil wizard named Voldemort rose to power. He was so feared, that people refused to say his name, referring to him as 'You-Know-Who' or 'He-who-must-not-be-named.' He had many followers, a group of people who tortured and killed for fun. They were called Death Eaters. When Harry Potter, your father," he said, pointing to Albus and Lily, "was a baby, Voldemort tried to kill him, and was destroyed. Unfortunately, he didn't truly die, and returned to power at the end of our fourth year at Hogwarts. It was awful. Harry, Ron, and Hermione disappeared during our seventh year at Hogwarts, looking for some way to truly kill Voldemort. They must have succeeded, because at the end of our seventh year, they returned to Hogwarts. There was a huge battle between the members of the Order of the Phoenix, a group that was trying to fight Voldemort, and the Death Eaters. Lots of people died, some of them very good friends of ours. But in the end of the battle, Harry killed Voldemort. Draco Malfoy, your father," he said, now pointing at Scorpius, "was in our grade in school. He was a horrible bully and he and Harry were enemies. He was pressured into becoming a Death Eater in his sixth year of Hogwarts, and once he became a Death Eater and was charged to kill Dumbledore, he learned that he wasn't evil, and wasn't capable of murder; he and his parents didn't fight in the battle."

We were silent for a few moments as we tried to comprehend what Longbottom had just told us. Everyone else had known about Voldemort, and knew about family members or friends that died in the Second Wizarding War, but they hadn't known everything Longbottom had said. After a couple minutes, the conversation turned to Quidditch, since I didn't know about that either, and so many people there played Quidditch. Lily, Hugo, Will, Breanne, and I also got some advice from Albus and his friends, and Longbottom, about the classes and the teachers. We sat and talked for a couple hours, before we all left.

The next day, Albus and Rose decided to take the five of us down to meet Hagrid. Hagrid was the gamekeeper, and he lived in a small wooden hut next to the Forbidden Forest. He had been good friends with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, so Albus, Rose, Casey, and Scorpius visited him often.

As we sat down – Albus, Rose, Breanne, and Will on the bed, and Lily, Hugo, and I around the table – Hagrid passed around rock cakes and poured steaming tea. Albus and Rose didn't touch the rock cakes or the tea, but Lily, Hugo, Will, Breanne, and I weren't familiar with Hagrid's cooking yet. After we tried to bite into the rock cakes but couldn't, we ignored them as well. Once he had passed out the cakes and tea, Hagrid sat down in his special extra-large chair.

"Come on, then, introduce yerselves. I recognize yeh, o' course, Lily, and you, Hugo – yeh look so much like yer dad did, Hugo – but I don' know yer friends."

Albus spoke up, because he knew Hagrid the best. "As you already mentioned, this is Hugo, and this is Lily, my little sister. However," he said, now pointing to me, "this is also Lily;

Lily Evans, her cousin. We call her Luna, and her Minnie," he said, pointing first to Lily, and then to me. "This is Will, Casey's younger brother, and Breanne Foster. Breanne is in Slytherin, like Scorpius."

"It's good to see yeh gettin' along with the Slytherins. Yer parents never managed ter make friends with the Slytherins."

Just then, a huge English Bull Mastiff bounded in through the open back door. Seeing the expressions on our faces, Hagrid explained, "This is Flame. He won' hurt yeh." Hagrid patted Flame on the head as the big dog walked around the table to sniff all the newcomers to his home. Once he met all of us, he lay down under the table, with a loud sigh. We still weren't completely reassured. Even though we'd only been at Hogwarts one week, we had heard plenty of rumours that Hagrid liked dangerous creatures, and Flame looked dangerous. Seeing our worried expressions, Rose added, "Flame is really sweet. Yes, Hagrid's had strange pets – he did own an illegal baby dragon in our parents' first year – but Flame is a harmless and completely normal dog.

"Dragon?" all five of us shouted as one.

Rose was about to respond, but Hagrid was already talking, with a huge smile on his face as he reminisced.

"Yeah, Norbert – or Norberta, I s'ppose. I won the egg off a feller down in the pub in a game of cards. Harry and Hermione sent him to Romania with Ron's older brother, Charlie."

"Why would you want a dragon?" I asked.

"Well why not? Bloody interestin', they are." At the look of disbelief and shock on our faces, he continued. "Seriously misunderstood creatures, dragons are. They're just so powerful is all; it scares people."

Will spoke up, trying to be reasonable. "There's a reason people are scared of dragons! They can't be controlled."

"Ah rubbish. Norbert wouldn'ta hurt a fly. He was playful is all, an' powerful too, but he wouldn'ta hurt anyone."

Before any of us could respond and try to make Hagrid see reason, Albus glanced out the window and noticed the sun was setting.

'Blimey, it's getting late. We should head back up to the castle for dinner."

As we walked back up to the castle, our conversation stayed on Hagrid and Norberta. We had heard the rumours about Hagrid liking dangerous creatures, but hearing him talk about an illegal dragon that he'd raised was much more shocking.

**(A/N) Please, please review. I've gotten a few reviews, but I need to hear from more people! If you have any questions, or things you think I messed up, or especially things you liked, please review and tell me!**

**Next chapter: Lily Potter tries out for the Quidditch team**


	7. Quidditch Tryouts

****(A/N) Sorry this took so long. The rest of the chapters are already written, so there should hopefully be no more long waits, like there were for chapters six and seven. Sorry if this chapter isn't as good as the others; I didn't have much time, but didn't want to make you wait until next weekend.****

**Chapter 7: Quidditch Tryouts**

That night, a little while after dinner, I went back to Professor Dumbledore's office. During my first meeting with him, he told me he would like to keep meeting with me, and that I would have free reign to come to his office whenever I wanted. He would alert me whenever the password changed, so that I would always have access. When I got to the stone gargoyle that guarded his office, I spoke the password, "Cramoisy," and went up the spiral staircase behind it once it jumped aside. When I sat down across from Dumbledore, he asked how my week had been, and I told him my classes that week, and tea with Neville on Saturday and with Hagrid that afternoon. When I finished talking, Dumbledore started asking me more questions about my abilities. He asked me how my classes were going, what we were studying and how hard the classes were. When he was finished asking me questions, he explained that he would be expanding upon my classes, and teaching my harder magic. During that lesson, he had me perform various spells, so he could judge where I was and what he should teach me in later lessons.

After about an hour of this, he dismissed me, and I headed back for my dormitory. As I walked, I noticed that there were no students wandering through the halls; curfew must have passed while I was working with Dumbledore. I sped up a little, not wanting to get caught out of bed after hours, but there wasn't much I could do except hope no one saw me.

Unfortunately, Mr. Porter found me just a couple minutes later. Although he was normally nice and easy-going, Mr. Porter looked so furious that he looked like a different person.

"Care to explain why you are out of bed, Ms. Evans?" he asked, in a dangerously quiet voice.

"I was working with Professor Dumbledore. Curfew passed while I was working with him without either of us noticing." I explained.

Mr. Porter looked suspicious for a minute, before grabbing my robes and dragging me back towards Dumbledore's office. When we got there, Dumbledore looked surprised to see us.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"I caught Ms. Evans out of bed, Professor. She claimed she was working with you."

"I'm sorry, Mundus. This appears to be my fault. Yes, Ms. Evans was working with me, so there is to be no punishment for her being out of bed after hours. This will continue to happen, as after dinner is the most convenient time for her to come. So long as she is on her way to or from my office, you can assume she is allowed out of bed."

Reluctantly, Mr. Porter let go of my robes, and I scampered out of the room. This time, I almost ran back to Gryffindor tower, not wanting to get caught by any of the other teachers on patrol.

The next morning, an announcement appeared on the bulletin board in the Gryffindor common room announcing that Quidditch try-outs would be held that Saturday, September 15. When he finished reading the announcement, Hugo looked over at Lily, who had just finished reading it as well.

Seeing the expression on her face, he said, "Uh-uh! You're not allowed to, Luna. First-years aren't allowed on house teams."

"Dad got on his first year! There's no reason I shouldn't be on the team!"

"Just because Uncle Harry bent the rules doesn't mean you can too!"

Nothing any of us said could persuade Lily to not try out. Albus, Rose, Scorpius, and Casey heard about her plan to try out, and spent all of lunch trying to convince her it was a bad idea. When they couldn't convince her either, I went back to Dumbledore's office and mentioned it to him, hoping he could either grant her wish or make her see reason. The next day, Professor Dumbledore called Lily to his office, along with Professor Cantamen and Professor Longbottom. He was hoping that Professor Cantamen and Professor Longbottom might be better at persuading her than he would be because Cantamen was her Head of House and Longbottom was a family friend. The three of them tried to explain to Lily why the first-year rule was in place and why it couldn't be bent just for her. Professor Longbottom sent an owl to Harry and Ginny, but even they could not convince their daughter to not try out.

When the day of try-outs arrived, Lily resolutely marched to the broom shed to borrow a Comet 360 before continuing to the Quidditch Pitch with everyone else who was trying out. Feeling as though there was nothing else we could do, Hugo, Will, Breanne, and I followed her to the Quidditch Pitch to watch from the stands. Rose, Scorpius, and Casey sat with us because Albus was trying out for seeker, the position he had played the year before.

Andrew Graham, the Gryffindor Quidditch captain, started splitting everyone up by the position they were trying out for. Lily wanted to be a chaser, so she joined Casey in the largest group, which had about fifteen students. Albus joined a small group of two other students for seeker try-outs. The try-outs for a beater were first. Because Andrew was a beater, he had to fly with the students trying out to see who he worked the best with. When he had chosen a fifth year named Alec Branch, the chaser try-outs started. Lily was one of the better fliers in the group, and was almost chosen for one of the three chaser spots, until Andrew learned that she was a first-year, and therefore ineligible for the team. He ended up choosing Casey, Shelby Keefer, and Hannah Halpern as the chasers. Hannah was a seventh year who had been on the team since her second year. Shelby was a second year who was new to the team. When the chasers were announced, Lily came fuming over to where we were sitting.

"I flew better than Shelby! I should have gotten on the team instead of her. The only reason she got on was because she's a second year and I'm a first year."

"Why did you try out? You knew you wouldn't get on," Will asked, trying to be reasonable.

But Lily wasn't being reasonable. "They can't do that. They have to let me on! I flew better than her!"

We kept trying to calm her down, but nothing we said was doing anything. After about an hour, try-outs were done after a seventh year named Ryan Toney became the Keeper and Albus got his spot as Seeker back. When Lily saw the assembled team, she ran at Andrew, screaming, looking like she was about to kill him. Before she got far, Casey shot a Stunning Spell at her.

"We need to get her to the Hospital Wing. Madame Aeger can give her a Calming Draught."

Agreeing with her advice, Breanne, Will, Hugo, and I carried her to Hospital Wing.

"What happened?" Madame Aeger asked, astonished, as she saw Lily being carried in unconscious.

"She decided she wanted to try out for the Quidditch team even though she's a first year and isn't allowed on. She flew better than one of the girls who got on the team, but wasn't allowed on because she's a first year. She got quite hysterical. She tried to attack Andrew Graham, so Casey stunned her and told us to bring her here for a Calming Draught," I explained as we laid her on the bed.

Madame Aeger nodded once before bustling off to her office to grab the Calming Draught. When she returned a second later, she woke Lily up. Immediately, Lily continued screaming about how she should be on the team, and how Andrew, along with all the teachers, was just trying to thwart her. When Madame Aeger tried to give her the Calming Draught, she started thrashing around, almost managing to knock the flask from Madame Aeger's hand. Hugo, Will, Breanne, and I managed to hold her down so Madame Aeger could give her the draught. When Lily calmed down some, Madame Aeger also set a Cheering Charm on her. After just a few minutes, Lily was smiling again, so the five of us left the Hospital Wing.

**(A/N) Please, please review. I love people putting the story on alert, but I love reviews even more.**

**Next chapter: Christmas Break!**


	8. Christmas

**(A/N) Sorry I took such a long break. I never meant to be gone so long; I just completely lost my motivation for this story. That shouldn't happen again, because I swore I would not abandon this story, no matter how little motivation I have. However, I have decided that I will not be posting the sequels to this story. In one of her reviews, Skillets asked if there would be a villain in this story. I do not really have a villain in this story, although I am now planning on adding a villain in the later books. Unfortunately, this all means that you won't get access to this villain, and my story will stay plot-less. :( Oh well. **

**Chapter 8: Christmas**

The next few months passed quickly. My friends and I stayed top of our class, but I wasn't bored because of my extra lessons with the Headmaster. It was a lot of fun seeing Hogwarts decorated for Halloween. Albus, Rose, Casey, and Scorpius got to go into Hogsmeade, because they were third years, and they brought us back loads of candy from Honeydukes.

About a week before Christmas Break, Professor Cantamen passed around a list of students who would be staying over the break. Albus and Lily told retold all the stories their father had told them about Hogwarts at Christmas, and we all promised we would stay at Hogwarts one year, just to experience it, but this year, we were all going home. I would be returning to my family, and Norbert and his family would come over on Christmas day. Breanne and Scorpius were going home with Lily and Albus, and the Potters and all the countless Weasleys would get together for a few days before and after Christmas. James decided to stay at Hogwarts because he was a prefect and felt it was his duty.

The first years rode back across the lake with Cantamen, just as we had at the beginning of the year. When we got to Hogsmeade station, we squeezed into a compartment with Albus and his friends. Norbert also squished in with us, because he was coming to my house over the break, and we were the only people he talked to. He was still trying to shut himself off, but not as much, and we got him to join in our conversations on the way home.

Although I loved Hogwarts, and already missed my friends by the time I got home, I had missed my family and was glad to be home. For two weeks, I was able to escape the large changes in my life and revert back to the way things had always been. Petunia and I spent our days playing outside in the snow; a fire was always blazing in the grate for when we came in. After dinner, we sat together as a family, drinking hot cocoa and talking.

I believed in Father Christmas, but in a more understanding and mature way than I had when I was younger. Petunia was still young enough to believe in the normal legends of Father Christmas, so mum took me and her to the village grotto. I went through with her; I never tired of seeing the beauty and the magic in the walk to Father Christmas, even now that I was in a world with real magic. Mum had finished most of her baking by the time I got home, but Petunia was able to take my role in helping mum prepare the Christmas pudding.

On Christmas Eve, the sitting room was shut off so Mum and Dad could wrap presents to put beneath the tree. Petunia and I were sent to bed early to keep up the charade of Father Christmas for Petunia, but before we went to bed, we were allowed to open one present, just like we were every year. As was the tradition, our one present for Christmas Eve was a new pair of pajamas to sleep in that night. After we opened our present, we hung up our stockings and put out a plate of cookies for Father Christmas that Petunia and I had baked earlier that day.

We woke up early the next morning to Christmas songs and the smell of oranges and cloves. But before we could eat breakfast, or open presents, family had to arrive. Christmas day was a day to be with family, and that meant everyone, not just brothers or sisters and parents. Mum's parents always came, and her brother and his family. We met at our house every year; Grandma and Grandpa didn't want to decorate their house, and Uncle Tom and Aunt Bonnie's house was too small. No one from dad's family ever showed up; his only living relatives were our Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, Cousin Dudley, and Dudley's wife and son. But this year was going to be different; Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and Dudley's family would be coming. Grandma and Grandpa Hooper showed up as the clock was striking eight, just as they did every year. Just a few minutes later, Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, Dudley, Carol, and Norbert showed up. I had never met Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, Dudley or Carol. Aunt Petunia was thin and bony, with a long neck. Uncle Vernon had the appearance of having once been fat, but having had lost a lot of weight quickly. His neck was almost impossible to see, and he had a large mustache that seemed to be the only thing about his appearance that he liked. Dudley looked much like his father, including the mustache, but was still fat. Carol, his wife, was thin, but not bony like Aunt Petunia, and had a kind, intelligent face. We all greeted them, and made them feel at home; it was clear they felt uncomfortable because they were new to our traditions. At eight thirty, Uncle Tom and Aunt Bonnie arrived with their children. They added their baked goods to the treats mum had made, and the fruit cake Grandma and Grandpa Hooper had brought. Now that everyone had arrived, we could eat our Christmas breakfast.

The table was crammed full with coffee cakes, toast, and fruit. There were two different coffee cakes, and there were several different types of fruit. There were apples, oranges, cranberries, and an assortment of nuts. I also spotted a favorite dish among Petunia, our cousins, and I: orange buns. They were a delicious twist on a traditional cinnamon bun; they had orange flavoring instead of cinnamon inside, and were topped with orange-flavored icing.

After everyone had finished breakfast, we were allowed to go into the sitting room to open presents. Just like every year, Petunia marveled at Father Christmas' ability to deliver our cousins' presents to our house. Even though I knew Father Christmas didn't deliver presents, I still didn't know how our parents managed to get our cousin's presents to our house before our cousins got there. Our cousins, Daniel, Rupert, Emma, and Norbert, marveled at our tree. It didn't have any lights on it, but it still seemed to glow. There was fake snow adorning the branches, strung popcorn and tinsel running through the tree, candy canes peppered throughout, and fruit hanging by ribbons. A gold star sat atop the tree.

First, the six of us attacked our stockings. Stockings for our cousins had appeared during the night, and had been stuffed just as full as Petunia's and mine. There were a few small toys stuffed in ours stockings, but mostly there were dried fruits, whole fruits, assorted nuts, biscuits and chocolates. After we had emptied our stockings, and sampled some of the goodies inside, we turned to opening presents. I got several books from mum and dad, a hand-knit sweater in Gryffindor colors from mum, a beautiful digitally doctored photograph from Petunia of the two of us playing together, and assorted generic toys from my cousins and old muggle friends. I had received presents from my friends by owl during the break, but those were in my room, waiting to be opened after my cousins left. They were sure to be magical, and my cousins didn't know I was a witch; they thought I was attending a normal, muggle boarding school. I also received hand-made cards from Petunia, Daniel, Rupert, Emma, and all my muggle friends. I had created for Petunia a magical portrait of the two of us. It was a portrait of me holding her just after she was born, but the picture shifted and changed, and as it changed, it showed me and her as older and older. It only showed us up to our current ages, but as we grew older, it would show us growing older as well. I had placed a charm on it so Muggles, beside Petunia, mum, and dad, could only see a still photograph of me at eleven with Petunia at nine.

After we had opened all our presents, and our mess had been cleaned up, the adults stayed in the sitting room to talk, and Petunia and I left with our cousins to play for the day. We only got to see our cousins for Christmas and Easter, so we enjoyed every minute we had with them on Christmas Day. We enjoyed our time with Norbert even more because he had never come for Christmas before. Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Tom had three children. Rupert was the eldest of the three; he was about a year older than I was. Daniel was only two months younger than I was, and Emma was Petunia's age. Norbert was Dudley's son, and he was an only child. We all went outside to have a snowball fight. Rupert, Norbert and I were one team, and Daniel was on a team with Petunia and Emma. After a while, we switched teams, so Daniel, Rupert, and Emma were on one team against me and Petunia. Norbert joined me and Petunia so the teams would be even. When we got tired of our limbs buzzing from the cold, we went inside and sat by the fire to warm up. We went up to Petunia's room for a little while to talk and catch up, then Daniel, Rupert, Norbert and I left to go to my room. Petunia and Emma played in Petunia's room for the rest of the afternoon. Daniel, Rupert, Norbert and I continued talking in my room, and once went back outside for a game of tag. Daniel and Rupert were interested in my new boarding school, but they were satisfied with the vague answers I gave, and didn't ask many questions. I was glad about this; I couldn't tell them about Hogwarts, and I didn't want to make up answers to their questions. Norbert mentioned that he went to the same boarding school I did. Daniel and Rupert asked him questions too, but I had already warned him to not say anything about Hogwarts to my cousins, so he gave vague answers like I had.

At four o'clock, we gathered for tea, just like we did every day. However, because it was Christmas, this tea was different from usual. Instead of normal biscuits with the tea, we had Christmas pudding and fruit cake. Grandma and Grandpa had brought a traditional fruit cake with alcohol in it for the adults, and Uncle Tom and Aunt Bonnie had brought a non-alcoholic fruit cake that Petunia, our cousins, and I could eat. The tea was spiced with cloves and cinnamon. After tea was finished, everybody went home. Petunia and I spent the rest of the day reveling in the mundane magic of Christmas that is so much more powerful than anything in the Wizarding world. As we sat talking about the wonders of Christmas, I explained this to Petunia; she was heartened to hear that true magic could be found in the muggle world, and she didn't need to go to Hogwarts to find magic in her life. We were allowed to stay up later than usual, but, the time came for us to go to bed and say good-bye to Christmas for another year.

The next day was Boxing Day, so we slept in. Our town was a tight-knit community, and this was never more apparent than on Boxing Day. Boxing Day, besides being a day of relaxation and rest, was also a day of socialization. Everyone gathered in the town square to socialize. There were children's corners for the children to socialize and play with other children. If a person didn't show up, everyone in the square would ask about their health; the only reason someone would miss Boxing Day was if they were too sick; and it was always dreadful to think of people sick over Christmas.

The next week passed much too fast. It was much the same as the week before Christmas, but now I had new books to read, and homework to do. In no time at all, it was New Year's Eve. Petunia and I were allowed to stay up, and we set off fireworks with the rest of the town on the stroke of midnight. It was an amazing sight to see the sudden glow of fireworks in front of every house burst through the pitch black night at the same second. In less than a second, the night went from darker than coal to brighter than day with an assortment of colors glowing brighter than the sun. After we set off all our fireworks, and saw all the other fireworks go off, Petunia and I went to bed.

However, I did not get to sleep in on New Year's Day. I had to wake up early and pack my trunk so I could get to King's Cross Station before the Hogwarts Express left at eleven o'clock. When I got to King's Cross Station, I said good-bye to my family, and crossed through the barrier to Platform 9 ¾, boarding the train without first looking for my friends. I sat down in an empty compartment to wait for my friends, but fell asleep in a couple minutes. When I woke up, the train was racing through countryside, and Lily, Hugo, Will, and Breanne were sitting in my compartment. Will was asleep, and Lily, Hugo, and Breanne looked exhausted. We sat in silence for the rest of the trip, too tired to speak. I sat and stared out the window, falling back asleep once or twice with my head resting on the glass. Will woke up a couple times, and fell back asleep. Lily, Hugo, and Breanne all slept for some duration of the trip as well. As we neared Hogwarts, we started perking up. We had slept off most of our fatigue, and our proximity to Hogwarts overrode the rest. When we got to Hogwarts, we left our stuff on the train to be transported to Hogwarts, and found Cantamen, who was leading the first years across the lake in the boats. When we got to the castle, we went straight to the Great Hall for dinner. Once we sat down and started eating, we started talking. As had become customary, Breanne sat with us at the Gryffindor table. Lily and Breanne told the story of their Christmas Break first. Breanne had been awed and amazed to find parents so different from her own. After dinner, Hugo told his story, and Will told his. We were all still tired, so I didn't have time to tell my story that night. We went to bed, and I told my story the next morning over breakfast. Just after breakfast, we had to start classes again.

**(A/N) Up next: Lily causes a large problem, and Albus and James get hurt. **


	9. Flooded

**(A/N) Sorry this is so late again. I will try to start updating more frequently. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. **

Chapter 9: Flooded

Two weeks after we returned from Christmas Break, all the students had to be sent back home. One Friday afternoon, during one of my lessons with Professor Dumbledore, he asked me to flood his office to the ceiling. I overshot the spell, and flooded the whole school. The teachers and elder students were able to perform bubble-head charms on themselves and the younger students before anyone got hurt. All the students summoned their pets, or asked an older student to summon their pet for them, so bubble-head charms could be performed on the animals as well. I apparated to the Owlery to perform the bubble-head charm on the owls there because I alone could apparate through the anti-apparition spell on Hogwarts.

The teachers decided to send the students back home for a month so the teachers could undo the damage done. There was no permanent damage, but there was too much water to be vanished at once, and there was a lot of water damage to be reversed. I asked Professor Dumbledore if I could stay and help the teachers because it was my mess. He agreed to let me help clean up, but then my friends got mad.

"We were planning to all go to my house! You can't change the plans now! None of us will be able to do any of the bloody work without your help!" Hugo cried out.

So I asked Professor Dumbledore if my friends could stay as well. Professor Dumbledore agreed that he couldn't let one student stay and force all the others to leave, so Professor Cantamen passed around a list for students who did not wish to go home, just like she did at Christmas and Easter. However, the teachers told the students to go home unless they were unable to. Besides me and my friends, only four students signed up to stay; a fourth year Hufflepuff boy who was raised in a muggle orphanage, his girlfriend, and James and Albus. Harry and Ginny were out of the country because they didn't expect their children home for another three months. All the students were assigned work to work on over the break, so that no time was lost.

I was allowed to help the teachers clean, but Professor Dumbledore didn't want me working as hard as the teachers. Each teacher was assigned two rooms to clean each day; I was assigned one. I had plenty of time to do the assigned work, and to hang out with my friends. Getting rid of the water was the easy part to the cleaning. The water just had to be vanished; the only problem was that there was too much water to vanish it all at once, so we had to work with it in smaller chunks. The hardest part of the cleaning was reversing the water damage. The areas we cleaned early had extensive water damage, but it was nothing compared to the water damage found in the areas we cleaned last (imagine an essay on the bottom of a lake for one day, compared to an essay on the bottom of a lake for two weeks).

About two weeks after I had flooded the school, we had much more to worry about than water damage. Lily, Breanne, the Hufflepuff girl, and I had been placed in one dormitory. James, Albus, Hugo, Will, and the Hufflepuff boy had been put in another dormitory. Sharing a room escalated the already high-strung tensions between Albus and James, and after two weeks, they both snapped. We had all noticed the tension and had tried to divert it by keeping James and Albus as far apart as possible, and trying to calm Albus down to loosen the tension some, but disaster was inevitable. Lily said her father always joked that Albus and James would share a room only when he wanted the house demolished, but it turned out to not be a joke. The teachers and I were in the water-filled rooms. The other students were all outside. None of the students had worse than a couple broken bones except James and Albus, who were both unconscious because they were at the centre of the explosion, and Breanne, who was unconscious from a concussion. The teachers and I had been protected by the walls of the castle, which slowed the force of the blow, and we were able to protect ourselves with shield charms. Madame Aeger, the nurse, had a couple broken bones, but she set them so she could start caring for all the teachers and us nine students. I had trauma to my chest from the force of the explosion, and several of my ribs were fractured. Lily broke her leg and Hugo broke his arm as they fell from the shaking of the ground. The two Hufflepuff fourth years had no broken bones, but had extensive bruising. Will had burns. Breanne was unconscious from a concussion, but woke up after just one day. The teachers had various broken bones and bruising, but none of them were seriously injured.

As soon as he was well enough, and after several owls could be persuaded to return to the demolished school, Professor Dumbledore sent letters to the prefects of each house, giving instructions for another two months of work after the original month's work had been completed, and telling them who to pass on the information to so that the news got to all the students. We no longer had to worry about drying out the school, but we did have to rebuild it, from the ground up.

James and Albus were sent to St. Mungo's when they were still unconscious a week after the explosion. Harry and Ginny were called back from abroad. They were both shocked that their boys had demolished Hogwarts because they had shared a room. They hadn't even known tensions could escalate so high that they could explode. Lily, Hugo, and Rose spent most of their time at St. Mungo's, and when they weren't at the hospital, they were with at home with their families. No one knew how long it would take James and Albus to recover, or even if they ever would. All ten of us, Breanne, Will, Scorpius, Rose, Casey, Lily, Hugo, I, and, of course, Albus and James, were excused from our work as long as we caught up in time to pass our exams.

Breanne, Will, and I stayed at Hogwarts, and Scorpius and Casey joined us. Professor Dumbledore had wanted to send us home, but I wanted to help rebuild Hogwarts, to keep myself busy, and we all wanted to stick with our friends so we would feel a little less scared and alone. It didn't take long to convince Professor Dumbledore to let us stay, to let Scorpius and Casey come, and to let me help rebuild Hogwarts. I could be found, from sunrise to sunset, rebuilding Hogwarts, brick by brick. I was able to levitate and move large stones, and to shape the rocks. I could rebuild a suit of armor, or a tapestry, or anything else from inside the castle when given a small scrap of it. Some things were in large chunks, but some things were reduced to dust. These things I could not recover. Will, Breanne, Scorpius, and Casey could always be found by my side, struggling to help with the building as well. They were too inexperienced to be of much help, but there was no point in staying at Hogwarts to be with our friends if we never saw each other. I helped them when they were struggling, and by the time the two months were up, and Hogwarts was ready for the students to come back, they had mastered many things that were impossible for them when we started.

James and Albus were unconscious for one and a half of the two months it took to rebuild Hogwarts. The second they woke up, they were moved to separate rooms, and Harry and Ginny explained what had happened. Albus and James remembered the flooding of the school, but remembered nothing of the two weeks they had been at school before the explosion. It took another month after they woke up for them to be well enough to return to school.

When the school was rebuilt, the students were allowed to come back. It was utter chaos for the next few days. None of the students knew why the school had been closed for the extra two months, and rumors were flying. Professor Dumbledore had to announce to the whole school what had happened; the tension between two students had risen to the point that it exploded, demolishing Hogwarts. He did not say that those two students were Albus and James, but he did mention that Albus and James had received the worst injuries from the explosion and were in St. Mungo's, although they would soon be returning to school. Many of the students had not followed the outline of work to be done, and many had tried to do the work but had been unable to learn the material without a real teacher, so two and a half months of school had been lost. The teachers had to re-teach everything that should have been learned in the past two and a half months, and finish teaching the rest of the school year in time for the exams.

**Next chapter: Lily and her friends get in trouble. **


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